Our trip to Disneyland (AND a giveaway for a free night at Country Inn & Suites hotels!)

Country Inn & Suites is celebrating because they've opened a new hotel right within walking distance to Disneyland! Check out our visit to Disneyland and read all the way through to learn how you can enter to win a free nights stay at any Country Inn & Suites location!

I'm sure that most of us growing up, Disneyland was the ultimate dream vacation for any child. My biggest excitement was seeing my favorite Disney movie characters in real life, in their environments and getting to truly interact with them. The second most important thing I looked forward to were all the different amusement rides. It was a great mix of thrill or adventure.

My family of origin took us to Disneyland once during my childhood and the rest of our family vacations were mostly road trips around the Western US, sprinkled with a few visits to our family in Poland. My husband's family, on the other hand, visited Disneyland almost annually as their budget for family trips. So when I married into his family, the love of Disney was set in quite early.

It's a perfect day! #MickeyMouselovesPierogies

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 7, 2016 at 11:07am PST

My husband and I took two trips to Disneyland before having children. What a different experience it is go to to Disneyland and experiencing it as an adult! We got to zoom through the park, not a care in the world how long the wait lines were, stay up late for the fireworks show and didn't worry about character signatures and rode the coolest rides.

Then, my sister-in-love moved to the San Diego area this year and the whole family collectively gasped - we can go to Disneyland when we visit her! This past November the four of us flew down to visit her family and play at the park for 3 days, which we spread out over a week. Now getting to experience the magic of Disneyland through our daughter's eyes (aged 4 and 2) was something my husband and I will never forget. This time the priorities were very different; find our favorite characters to get signatures, ride only a few of the age appropriate rides and just simply look to soak it all in. There is so much to see in the details at Disneyland if you aren't distracted by rides! Pirated of the Caribbean is one of my favorite things to see at Disneyland because they have done such a great job at temporarily making you forget where and when you are. It's easy to get swept up in that creaky boat in the Louisiana bayou, duck your head in the midst of a drunken pirate canon ball brawl and yo-ho-ho with Jack Sparrow.

Some of our favorite memories were watching Penny and Ruby meet Elena of Avalor. It's a relatively new show and that day happened to be Princess Elena's first debut in meeting her friends at Disneyland. We also got to see an extended preview of the upcoming movie Moana (in the old Bug's Life theatre, so there were ocean sprays, smells and wind gusts!) and we had a caricature done of the girls at Fisherman's Warf. One night my husband and I left the kids with their grandparents and we went back for some night time roller coaster rides on the Matterhorn and Big Thunder.

As I mentioned before, Country Inn & Suites just opened up a brand new hotel that is within walking distance to Disneyland! With 174 gorgeous rooms that have family friendly open floor plans, spa-inspired bathrooms (for mama to relax after a day of chasing kiddos, duh), a 24/7 gym, free breakfast and an outdoor pool with views of the Disneyland fireworks, it's an easy sell for me! By saving a little bit of extra cash on transportation, parking and one meal of the day being covered, you now can shamelessly indulge in those delicious Dole Whips outside of the Tiki Room! Not going to lie, I had at least 3 a day while we were there because I was 8 weeks pregnant with #3 and that was about all I could stomach at the time!

And when I talk about saving a little bit of cash, how does one night free at any Country Inn & Suites location sound to you? That would put a little extra change in your pocket for your next vacay, right? So here's the deal - follow the rules at the bottom and you'll have your chance to be one of my readers to win this awesome prize!

To enter the giveaway:
1. Watch this short video on the all new Country Inn & Suites in Anaheim location and leave a comment below telling me one interesting thing that she said. Include your email address so that I can contact you if you win!
2. For a second entry (first option must be completed!), visit the Country Inn & Suites website and tell me in a separate comment which location you would stay at if you won.

2/1/17: The winner is comment #47, which is Sheila P! Check your email!

Giveaway rules: This giveaway is sponsored by Country Inn & Suites, not by The Pierogie Mama. The contest is open until 1/31/17 and the winner will be contacted via email only. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email in order to claim their prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. No purchase is necessary to win, but if you do want to enter you have to play by the rules described above. The comments must be relevant to the question, otherwise they won't count. If you don't provide an email address, I don't have a way to contact you. Good luck and I can't wait to see who wins!

Guest Post: German Christkindlmarkt History and 3 Recommended Markets in Bavaria

Guess who is guest posting on the blog today? The Pierogie Vovo! I hear ya - oh great, another weird Polish word that I don't understand. Au contraire, Vovo is the affectionate term for grandfather in Portuguese. What could be a better topic to write about, while we are visiting Germany during Christmas time, are the world famous Christkindlmarkts found all across the country?

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The history of Christmas markets in Germany has roots dating back to the late middle-ages in the
German-speaking parts of Europe and as well in many parts of the Holy Roman Empire. The Christkindlmarkt (German language literal meaning “Christ child market”) is a street market that’s associted with the celebration of Christmas during the 4 weeks of Advent. Opening nights are generally celebrated by onlookers with the arrival of “The Christkind”, a young child often depicted as an angel-like girl and acted out by a locally selected child. This selection is considered a prestigious honor for the child and her family. There will be 35 main markets and hundreds of smaller markets throughout Germany; creating 25k jobs and generating revenue in excess of 200 million Euro.

Christkindlmarkt in Efurt

German Christmas markets bring the holiday season to you as only they can with the aromas of spiced glühwine, sausages, Lebkuchen (gingerbread), potato pancakes with applesauce (my fave) and of course roasted chestnuts on an open fire. My wife and I live on the eastern side of Germany in the Bavarian Oberpfalz region and there are three markets that I'd recommend for you to visit in this region:

Schloss Guteneck:  Open only on weekends, this market is considered the “romantic market”. Situated within the beautiful Castle Guteneck, there are medieval markets, jugglers, minstrels and the continuing procession of era grabbed individuals providing the feel and atmosphere of that time. Combined with live nativity scenes, advent celebrations, fire-dancing and also camel and sheep rides for the kids making this a special market not replicated anywhere in Germany. There’s also a private wine area set on a hilltop for adults who want to relax and overlook the market place and all its lighting.

Nuremburg:  Our personal favorite. Overlooking the majestic Alps to the south, this is considered one of the smaller markets in the big pool but offers every bit what the larger ones do. The must have food at this market is the Nuremberg sausages (no less than 3!), packed into a fresh brotchen roll and smothered in German mustard. This is truly the best sausage we’ve tasted in Germany. There are over 180 stalls decorated in red and white cloth with only authentic hand crafted wares sold. No mass-produced goods are allowed to be sold at this market and is strictly policed and enforced.

Rothenburg:  Home of the Christmas Museum and surrounded by medieval city walls and steep gabled houses, this market is illuminated with thousands of twinkling lights, providing a Disneyesque kind of atmosphere. Rothenburg is the best standing example of a Medieval city in Germany. During economic troubles after the 30-years war the city was frozen in time until it was discovered by romantics and poets in the 1800's and became a vacation spot because of it's beauty, which is well deserved. Christmas pastries are the specialty of this market with the Schneeball (snow ball) being the must try item. I’ve tried them and boy are they sweet. The market's unusual name comes from the legend of the Rothenberg Rider once believed to float through the skies with the souls of the dead. Haven’t seen him though. ;) Driving to the markets is tricky because European parking is very hard to find. We highly recommend taking the train or buses if you attend. Children are more than welcome, but I’d again recommend attending during the weekdays and not late into the night because crowds get bigger as the night goes on. Also, babywear versus using strollers where ever possible. Most markets are shoulder-to-shoulder people and little room to navigate strollers through the crowds. 

Christkindlmarkt in Efurt

I enjoyed taking you through some of the German Christmas Market history and locations and look forward to see you. Auf Wiedersehen!

Get to know The Pierogie Vovo:  Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area
        Wife w/3 children and a dog some of the time
        Worked w/the DoD for 35 years (20 yrs. w/US Army)
               Have lived in 5 countries, for a total of 9 years, during those 35 years
               Enjoy working on my fitness, sports, music and traveling
               Will retire in 2016 and return to college for enjoyment classes

What I am packing in my carry on luggage for international travel with a toddler and a preschooler

We are preparing for our first international flight with kids - and even though my husband and I are seasoned travelers; let me tell ya - I'm a little scared. A little anxious. Really excited for our destination. Catching the extra zzzz's while I can. Trying not to overpack. But I probably did and I can't say that I will be too sorry about it.

Our upcoming trip to Germany has been greatly anticipated and over the last few months we've been talking more with Penny, our preschooler, about what to expect on this long plane ride and how we are so excited to see Babcia and Vovo (her maternal grandparents) once we land. But truly, even though we talk all about this and she is on the cusp of becoming a rational 4 year old, we have no idea what we can expect from her and her little sister, Ruby, who is 19 months old. 17 hours of travel is extremely wearing on adults, and it will be much moreso for our children. The longest flight that we have taken as a family of four has been a five hour jaunt, which was only a few months ago. Here's hoping that both of them, especially the toddler, will have a few memories of that experience so that it doesn't throw them off too much.

Can I pause for a moment and make a comment about how I can't believe that I have a toddler and a preschooler?? It was only last year that I had a toddler and a baby...

While it's very easy and temping to completely over pack and bring EVERYTHING with us as a carry on, my husband and I are opting to trim down as much as we can due to the fact that we will be hauling 3 large pieces of luggage, our carry ons, two small children and their car seats.


So without further adieu, here is what we packed into our carry on luggage for our international flight with a 3 1/2 year old and 19 month old!

• Diapers and wipes (recommended 1 diaper per hour of travel)
• A small spritzer of OnGuard essential oil
• Brand new Usborne books, we are very excited to use the new flashlight book!
• Our new Kindle Fire tablets; perfect for both parent and kid use. We also bought child ear phones and pre-loaded the tablets with a ton of apps that they got to practice with for a week ahead of the trip. 
• 2 changes of clothes for the kids and one for each parent, each set in a gallon sized Ziploc bag (which can also be used to seal smelly accidents)
• Token "lovies" that will help comfort the child and provide the scent of home in an unfamiliar space
• Travel sized toothbrushes that are preloaded with toothpast
• Coloring books with crayons
• Norwex Enviro cloth to wipe down plane trays - thanks for the idea Erin, who will be writing a guest post here in the very near future!
• Small, inexpensive toys and craft items from the Dollar Store that can provide entertainment but are easily disposed of. 
• Our two soft structured carriers for ease of transport through security and to help lull them to sleep on the airplane. 

I wrapped each and every single item in wrapping paper, including the diapers. This turns it into an activity that can be either a distraction or celebration. Because my kids can't read yet, I labelled their contents so that we can quickly grab what we feel is the best item for that moment.  <-- hack="" mama="" nbsp="" p="">

I filled at least a dozen Frozen themed ziplock baggies with an assortment of healthy pop corn, cheerios, yogurt covered raisins, trail mix, granola bars, a "treat" (usually a chocolate ball or a few marshmallows) and included different themed stickers, sticky notes, crayons, or other small time occupiers. I also made a specific "take off" bag that was place mats that they color on (like you get at a restaurant), a couple suckers for their ears.

But what is really going to save me are the diapers! I've flown many a time where at the end I've been covered in all sorts of bodily fluids and it's not fun. So here's to hoping that these will stand the test of a long international flight and keep both my baby and ME happy!

What do you pack for flying with your kids? 

Disclosure: All opinions are my own. This giveaway is funded by The Pierogie Mama and is not associated with any other entity, including but not limited to Sam's Club, Huggies, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest. Please see giveaway for full rules and eligibility. 

Catch the Moment: Week 17

A picture a day, for one year.

 So many things to love about this picture. I'm not a huge Mariner's fan, I mean - I'm from Seattle, have lived here most of my life and I will go to a game for the food and company. There, I said it. However, the grandparents are sports fans so every once in a while I oblige and send them a picture like this one. But seriously, when did my baby grow up? She's wearing K-Swiss sneaks, for gosh sakes.

 These are a few of my beautiful sister in laws. We celebrated a couple birthdays at the local trampoline park, which ended with two glamorous injuries (including yours truly) thanks for a moms vs. dads dodgeball. Yes, on trampolines. It's a long story, but basically an 11 year old sprained my ankle and it was so awesome because the next morning we flew out for our trip to Dallas! Yay! Because babywearing 2 kids and hauling a stroller with carseats and carry ons isn't hard enough to do; we needed to add a sprained ankle into the mix to make it interesting.

 Our trip to Dallas was flight #2 in the last year with both kids - and we have our third trip planned in December to fly across "The Pond" to see my parents over Christmas. Our first trip was to Long Beach in October, which was a mere 2 hour flight from Seattle. Seattle to Dallas is about a 4 hour flight, so we learned a few more lessons about how to fly efficiently and sanely with two littles. One huge travel tip came from That Mama Gretchen, who had recently flown to Texas with her littles too, and that was to put the ticketed non-lap child in their carseat for the flight. Penny was comfortable and calm for the flight. She's used to sitting in her car seat for sometimes hours at a time, so this wasn't that different. Miss Ruby, on the other hand.. well, she was a wiggly 15 month old who wasn't allowed to adventure like she wanted to. Again..more lessons were learned, but this was the exciting start for our super fun week in Dallas, which I will share more full details with you soon!

 Due to that (im)perfectly timed sprained ankle, I had to take it easy for the first part of our trip. But that wasn't going to stop me from taking the girls up to the infinity pool at the Omni hotel. How did I manage a 3 year old and a 1 year old in the water, by myself? Babywearing, of course. 

 Ok, I seriously lucked out on the hotel's restaurant. Texas Spice rocks my socks. The breakfast buffet was to die for. My glutinous, eager fingers made this photo come out embarassingly blurry, but what you'll find on that plate are eggs, breakfast potatoes, breakfast veggies, bacon, bread pudding, rice pudding and waay up there at the top were blueberries and raspberries. Why don't I just eat like this every day??

 More poor quality, but this was taken with a cell phone in a pretty much pitch black room so you'll forgive me. Both girls nap for 2 hours in the middle of the day and I was very thankful for their flexibility in our routine. I wasn't sure how it was going to go down with putting them to sleep in our hotel room each day, but it worked perfectly. Watching them sleep together on the bed made me dream more about them one day sharing their bedroom and perhaps even trying out sibling co-sleeping if that suits either of them. 

This picture won't do it justice but I hope you can get a good look. This is a pano of the view from the Giants of The Savannah view point at the Dallas Zoo. I actually ended up visiting the Dallas Zoo on two separate days because there was so much to see on the first day that we didn't get through everything. Thankfully I have an annual membership at the Woodland Park Zoo, which gave me reciprocal membership benefits of discount tickets. Zoos are kind of my thing (here's a list of zoos I've visited), so keep an eye out for what we thought of the Dallas Zoo. 

Catch the moment archives

These aren't on Instagram, but most others are!

Our family trip to Long Beach (7 months later) Part 1

While I'm away on my next adventure, I realized that it was probably high time that I shared about my last big one with our little family. I'm talking about our trip to Long Beach, CA from back in October. Uhm...yea. Bad blogger. Normally I'd be super pumped about writing down our travels the second that we got home, but there's something about 2 kids that makes the words pause at the end of my fingertips and sometimes they just never make it to the blog. Sorry! But nonetheless, here we are. Enjoy!

My husband's current position in his company takes him around the country a little more often than we were accustomed to a few years ago. Most places that he travels to are boring or he has a work project to support and will be working 16 hour days, so it doesn't normally make sense for the girls and I to tag along. But on the rare occasion, he snags a work trip that has a light work load and is actually in a destination where we could turn it into a little family vacation. And that's what happened with Long Beach, CA back in October.

I'm a pretty independent gal and I love to travel. To turn my blog into a family travel blog would be a dream come true. But for now, I am blessed to be able to piggyback on a few of my husband's business trips. The girls and I have a blast. They travel very well and I like to justify these little trips as our warm up for our trip to Germany in the winter, to visit my parents.

During these work trips we expect that my husband will be occupied during working hours (and sometimes longer), so I make sure to find ways to fill our time and make our travels worth it. While he was networking about natural gas solutions for the semi trucking industry, the girls and I cavorted around the Long Beach area for 4 days. Our hotel was in San Pedro, not too far from Long Beach. For one of our days we puttered around the water front there.

There is a little walking trail that takes you along the water front that parallels Harbor Blvd. It takes you past the USS Iowa, and we ended at the Gateway Plaza Fanfare Fountain. Every so often, classical music begins to play and the fountains are choreographed along. It was really pretty!

After his work commitment that evening, we took the drive out to Disneyland and walked along Downtown Disney. My husband comes from a Disneyland lovin' family - he's been dozens of times throughout his childhood and together we have gone twice. Our girls aren't at the age yet where we could justify the expense of the park tickets, let alone the sheer stimulation overload! So we went the free route and walking along the street of Downtown Disney was enough free fun for all of us. My father in law keeps asking me when we think that we'll take the girls into the actual park, and our best guess is that when Penny is 8 years old and Ruby is 6 they will have a total blast. Hopefully we will have someday-Baby #3 (and maybe even someday-Baby #4) along with us, but at the moment we can only plan for at what age these two girls will have fun. :) We had dinner at Tortilla Joe's, where Penny got her first balloon animal and I learned a few secrets on how to make the perfect guacamole.

The locals had a good laugh at us too. It was October and the temperatures were in the high 60's, low 70's. That is called tank top, flip flop and shorts weather in Washington. My kids are out in the backyard in the swimming suits and playing in our sprinkler while I lounge on a blanket in that weather. Californians don't seem to think that's appropriate in October, so we got laughed at when we hauled our family down to the hotel's pool. It had already been shut down for the winter! But luckily the hot tub was turn down to low and we went in that instead. Whatevs, works for us!

Oh, and that ring sling that I'm sure you've noticed? The one that lets me wear Ruby and still play in the water? None other than the fabulous Beach Front Baby ring sling, of course!  Click on over to that link to read more about it! No babywearing parent should be caught without one this summer.

My absolute favorite part of this trip was our visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. As it turns out, I have started to make a habit of visiting the local zoo or aquarium whenever we travel somewhere. It's a fun outing for everyone because they tend to be very toddler friendly. There's countless lessons to learn about the animals, our environment and thinking about the big picture. Not to mention, it's a great way to expend some of that toddler energy that builds up when cooped up in a hotel room! Penny was able to run around and I didn't have to constantly reign her in. But that, my friends, is a story for another blog post! Head over to read about our adventures at The Aquarium of the Pacific.

Whistler family vacation

I've got a dormant monster inside of me. It's called wanderlust. I love to travel. Near or far, whatever it is I love seeing new places, eating new food and just seeing what else is out there. It's amazing to me how little we know of the great places so close to us. Wanderlust doesn't mean traveling across the globe. It's just being somewhere new.

Well, this past year has been a quiet year for us. It's been spent majorly focusing on this whole transition of one to two kids and the craziness that it ensues. We've also been cutting back on expenses in order to maintain staying a single income family and honestly that's way more important than vacations. Truly. However, sometimes we just need a change in pace.

The last few months I've been somewhat obviously hinting that I'd like to take a weekend getaway with just our family. "Oh look, did you see that That Mama Gretchen escaped to the coast?" Oh man, my husband got sooo tired of all my weekly updates of everyone's travel plans during the holidays. Well, it got the point across and last week he got invited to meet with a supplier for work in Vancouver, BC and he nonchalantly asked via email "hey, would you and the girls like to come up with me to Canada? ...We could make it a weekend in Whistler."

It wasn't even a minute later that I was on Air BnB looking up condos. I even found the perfect one that fit into our budget and right in the village. Alas, that didn't work out because of some kind of techno glitch and I was ready to throw in the towel because who has an available condo on the cheap on MLK Jr weekend. Then on my last ditch effort search I FOUND ONE. It was perfect! So I snapped it up and we prepared for our trip to the north. Squee!!!

We only live about 4 hours from Whistler and with all of our stops along the way (yay for Penny in taking her first long road trip in undies!!) we got there in about 6 hours. The border crossing was a breeze for us old pro's, took a stop for lunch and groceries and thoroughly enjoyed the drive out of Vancouver up to Whistler. My camera was packed away (!!) and my cell phone was dead (!!!!) so I couldn't document the absolutely gorgeous drive out there. We talked about going up again during the summer and hiking along the way.

We checked into our cozy little condo, which was at the Marquise and just across the street from the Whistler Walking Trail. A few minutes down this trail brought us to the back of the Whistler Fairmont, which is at the base of Wizard and Magic lifts. There was a bit of sledding behind the Fairmont but in the early evening when the lifts stopping running, many people came out to sled that part of the run.

The condo

We spent the next two days alternating between snow play and warming up in the condo. Unfortunately it poured rain all day on Sunday and that was the time that we decided to take the trail from the condo to Whistler Village. Normally it would be a 15 minute walk for an adult, but when you're pulling a sled with a toddler (who wants to get out half the time) and/or wearing a baby (both of you are bundled up in your snow gear), it takes like 45 minutes. Add that it was raining and creating huge puddles, and your toddler just LOVES puddles, which means their non-waterproof snowboots get soaked before you get to the village. Oh, and for some reason a ton of the restaurants and shops were closed! On a weekend during the winter season. So weird. But, we made it to Blenz for some coffee and cocoa, warmed up and started the trek home. Along the way, our brave all weather warrior passed out. Yes, those are pink gloves on her feet. We couldn't bear to put the wet boots and socks back on..

daily photo challenge for 2015

But no complaints here - it was exactly what this family needed. We are so project driven, between house renovations or whatever other project the hubs has going on, we very very rarely aren't "working" on a weekend. So it literally took us hopping the border to get a break.

On Monday, when Adam had his meeting with his supplier, he dropped us girls off at the Vancouver Aquarium so that we'd have something to do while he was busy. Read more about our Vancouver Aquarium adventure tomorrow!

Babywearing Through Mount Rainier

Caution: This post contains a ton of babywearing!

This past weekend we decided to take a family trip up to Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park as a last hurrah for my parents taking off for Europe for the next 2 years. I had been wanting to see the gorgeous wildflower fields that are infamous in August and it was the perfect family bonding time that we needed.

We drove up early on a Sunday morning and made it to Paradise, which is the starting point for summiting Mount Rainier and offers the most glorious views of the volcano (that you can drive to). Even though it's at 5,400 ft elevation, it was a HOT afternoon. You never know about the weather when you're that high up, it can change so quickly, but we were blessed with a gorgeous blue sky, albeit hot temperatures and the beautiful variation of wildflowers.

Pretty much everyone took a turn wearing the babes :)

We hiked around Paradise and then headed out for an impromptu hike that took us from Narada Falls down to Long Mire. It was a 4 mile all descent hike - which was easy but let me tell ya, my knees and toes were hurting for the next 2 days!

None of this would have been possible without babywearing! There was no way a stroller would have worked for 5 month old Ruby and a 4 mile hike for 2 year old Penny would have been too long. So naps and nursing happened on the go and we all were happy hikers :)

Handmade for the Heart - Ada Rosman

This post was originally part of the Handmade from the Heart Giveaway Hop.

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Anything handmade speaks a certain voice to me. In a world where everything is automated and scientifically processed, we've lost the connection of why we're all here. To get to know one another, right? Handmade gifts are always held so close to my heart, they remind me of the love a person put into their work and how they may have thought of me (or the idea of me) as they were crafting their passion.

Ada Rosman is one of those people - she has a serious love for her craft.

Growing up in a Polish household in Washington State wasn't always easy; my parents tried to make connections with local Polish families to help keep our traditions and language alive but we didn't live close to a cultural hub (like Vancouver BC or Chicago). Nonetheless, this is how Ada and I met - her family and mine were quite connected back in the day. Her father is my brother's godfather and we used to play all the time as little kids. Over time things grew apart and in the last few years the families have reconnected and it's been fun getting to know Ada as adults and see each other now and again when "The Polish Mafia" gets together - as some people call it. We've got a lot in common when we can jokingly laugh at some of the very typical Polish things our mothers do when they are around each other.

Today I want to share with you Ada's handmade jewelry and a few questions about her shoppe and inspiration.

What made you want to study metals when you decided to go to college?
I found my own creative space in the arts right as I was getting ready to graduate from the University of Washington. It wasn't until what was "supposed" to be my last year at the University that I first started to work with metal. When by what seems to have been chance, I had decided to take a metals class that literally changed everything. I was truly drawn to the medium and actually changed both of my majors so I could get a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metals. I am truly inspired by the medium and the ability that it has to not only be a piece of jewelry, but a wearable piece of artwork that is able to tell a story as well as remember the past.

What inspires you the most - nature, architecture, food, people, culture? Tell me about how your travels inspire your jewelry.
My work continues to be influenced by my culture and historical moments in the past, but also by my travels. Thanks to travel I have become to realize that each place, every new person, and diverse culture continually influences and inspires my work. I absorb everything around me and reshape it into wearable artworks. This spring I’ll be introducing new jewelry designs inspired by my recent travels this past year to Poland and Mexico.

Tell me the story behind a really special piece that you've created recently.
I really enjoy making custom pieces since I get to learn more about the person that will be wearing it as as well as giving it - it gives me the chance to create a special piece of wearable art that carries the wearers’ own personal story. My thesis show for graduation was definitely a series of work that challenged me and influenced my current work. The BFA thesis work was about my families journey from Poland. We escaped from what was then Communist Poland by driving our Volkswagen Beetle to a refugee camp in Rome, Italy before we were able to come to America.

If you could travel anywhere and live there for 3 months - where would you go? What draws you there?
I would definitely love to travel throughout Argentina. A country that fuses Latin American culture with European influences. I am drawn to the diverse landscape and stunning scenery as well as the astounding art scene.

Get 20% off your Ada Rosman Jewelry order by using code PIEROGIEMAMA20

Enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Ada Rosman's shoppe here:

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all who entered!

Babymoon at Salish Lodge and Spa #seattle

"Just had the best night's rest I have had in YEARS. Must have been the 30 minute mineral soak, 
hour massage and delicious food right before bed, falling asleep to the sound of a crackling fire. 
EVERY pregnant mama deserves this in her 3rd trimester! 
Had an amazing babymoon at Salish Lodge with my handsome hubby"

That was the status update I posted on my personal facebook account after checking out of Salish Lodge and Spa about a week ago. Seriously - blissed out. 

We booked our 3rd trimester babymoon at Salish Lodge and Spa because they offer a special package for expectant parents that in my opinion really hits the mark. Having lived in the Seattle area my whole life, I had heard about how amazing this hotel was; I was not prepared for exactly how true this really was. 

Let's start from the beginning.  As I pulled up into the driveway a valet greeted me, took my bags and parked my car. By the time I reached the lobby (read: waddled), the concierge had my reservation pulled up. I guess the big ole belly gave me away. Minutes later, we were in our room; the bags had beat us there. 

We walked into a gorgeous, tastefully Pacific Northwest themed room that had rose petals spread over the king sized bed, French sparkling cider (read: not Martinellis!) chilling with a little stuffie for our impending bundle. The room also featured a balcony, a set of plush robes and slippers, two closets, a real wood fireplace, a Keurig with coffee and tea amenities. This waterbirth mama specifically drooled over the bathroom - a two person jetted tub with a peek through window that allows you to enjoy the fireplace from the tub. Everything felt so luxurious and relaxing, it was honestly very difficult to leave the following morning after resting in this oasis for a night. 

After we settled in and marveled over this really well appointed room Adam and I met with Greg Prescott, the Rooms Division Manager for a personalized tour of the hotel. Yes, being a blogger has its perks! :) Greg shared some of the most impressive highlights of the hotel as a business and vacation destination for locals and travelers alike.

The hotel has two restaurants on site. While they are extremely different from each other as far as their ambiance, the quality of service remains the same. Their sit down style restaurant is Falls Terrace, which is quiet and very personal. You will find over a thousand wine labels on their list; not kidding. You can order anything from the standard house wine to the once in a lifetime 1950's Bordeaux. Oh, and then there is the best table in the house - which offers 180 degree views of the waterfalls.

One of the many things I loved that Greg shared with us was exactly how connected Salish Lodge is to the Pacific Northwest community and their commitment to sustainability. They work with many local vendors to bring in the freshest, tastiest ingredients and products to their clients, but they're also doing the legwork on one other important part. In 2011 they began a small apiary with 4 beehives. This year they have brought it up to 12 hives and produce 2,400 pounds of organic honey a year. The honey is used throughout the hotel, from their dinner menu and spa, to their private selection of Salish Honey Ale and Salish Honey flavored Vodka and wine. Sweet deliciousness aside, the bees and their honey serve an important role in our environment - locally and globally. 

After our tour we checked into Salish's spa. The babymoon package includes massage treatments for both mama and daddy and I was READY for some relaxation. We first soaked in their two mineral pools - this was the perfect way to start my evening. You mamas know how few and far between quiet, relaxing baths are and this hit the spot. We sipped chocolate orange tea, relaxed to the sound of rushing water from the waterfall (and laughed at just how buoyant I am!) and were gently escorted to our treatment rooms.

I had the Mellow Mama massage (featuring Mama Mio products) and Adam had a relaxing tranquility massage. My therapist propped me and my belly on my side so that I'd be comfortable for the entire hour and got to work immediately. She checked in often to make sure that I was comfortable, but otherwise it was an hour of quiet, deep relaxation and wonderful work on some really tired mama muscles. Lifting and carrying a toddler during your 3rd trimester definitely takes a toll on your body, and it was nice getting those kinks worked out. After our hour apart, we met up in the 'recovery room' with huge, euphoric smiles on our faces. A comment that Adam made was that he was really surprised at how we weren't greasy at all when we came out; our skin had a really easy time absorbing the oils but left us feeling very glowy. 

Massages make this mama hungry so our next stop was a late dinner at The Attic - the second restaurant on the property. Here we found a more relaxed, lounge style atmosphere, where you can choose to sit at a table by the window or in any of their comfortable couches. Their claim to fame here is their wood fire pizza oven. Their pizzas are anything but the standard fare (though you can get a cheese or pepperoni pizza if you want!). We started with their baked clams (which featured chorizo in the broth, Adam insists that I now figure out how to make this at home!).

For dinner I ordered a pear and fig pizza (Salish Honey Fig Spread, Caramelized Onions, Prosciutto, Arugula, Bleu Cheese) and Adam ordered a shaved beef sandwich with a glass of the Honey Ale. Both were prepared to perfection - the dough and bread were soft, the pizza toppings and Adam's sandwich were perfectly paired with each other. Great food is always the perfect setting for the best conversations, in my book. 

We retired to our room, Adam started a cozy fire in their real fireplace (Salish has over 90 wood burning fireplaces!) and we sipped our sparkling cider. Later, I woke up around midnight to realize that we had probably fallen asleep mid-sentence and the fire was still crackling happily away. Big sigh of contentment. 

The next morning I got to do something that I haven't done in years...I sat in their library, sipped tea and read the paper for several hours, in front of yet another fire. 

Was this all a dream or did it really happen? Thankfully I have photographic evidence to prove that indeed, it did. If I can be promised a babymoon like this every time I'm pregnant, sign me up for 10 more kids please!

The biggest impression that Adam and I left with when checking out was how Salish Lodge and Spa proactively seeks the continuous improvement of their guests' experience. No, I didn't copy that from their website - that's straight from my genius husband's mouth. In addition to the connection that Salish Lodge has with its community to keep business local and provide sustainability, the guest leaves the hotel feeling like they were truly cared for during their stay. Everything was thought of ahead of time, down to having a screen door on your balcony so that you can sleep with the doors open on a summer night. What hotel thinks of that?

A few tips for you if you plan on staying at the lodge...

• Purposefully forget your laptop, tablet, whatever at home. They do offer free wifi, but seriously. Check out.
• Bring a camera to see the falls.
• Plan to spend a lot of time in your room. Even if you don't schedule anything in their spa, the rooms come in at a close second for relaxation. 
• Visit their Country Store. It's cute, has a ton of their honey products, you can take home a bottle of their Honey Ale beer or signature wine and a good variety of other things.
• Show up for their morning beverage service and afternoon tea and cookies in The Library. The fire will be stoked and ready for you :)
• Come midweek - my biggest tip. We stayed on a Monday night and it felt like we had everything to ourselves. We got to choose the best seats in The Attic and there weren't many tourists at the Falls when I went for a hike the next morning. 

What to expect with their signature babymoon package:

• Rose petals, sparkling cider and baby gift
• Special pregnancy pillow for the mother-to-be, to be enjoyed during her stay
• Two 50-minute Salish Signature spa treatments of the couple's choice (I had the Mellow Mama)
• $50 dining credit in The Attic

All in all, Seattle friends, this is one place where you do need to stay at least once - don't mistake this for "just another a tourist retreat!"

Find out more about Salish Lodge and Spa

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Disclosure: Thank you, Salish Lodge and Spa for hosting my babymoon through accommodation, meals and massage. All opinions are my own, though I wouldn't share about this amazing hotel if I didn't think you'd love it as much as we did!